Counter/Compteur/

As part of the preparations for future deployment, Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) received a Start-Up-Kit at a ceremony held at the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Leadership Centre in Karen Nairobi on 3rd December, 2015.

The Danish Ambassador to Kenya, H. E. Mette Knudsen and the UK Defence Attaché, Brigadier Mark Christie jointly handed over the Kit to Director of EASF Secretariat, H. E. Ambassador Issimail Chanfi, during an event witnessed by senior officials from the Kenyan Ministries of Defence, Ministry of Foreign affairs and Internal Security as well as Ambassadors and Defence Attachés representing EASF Member States.

EASF has been working on acquisition for a rapidly deployable Mission Control Base for its land-element forces (Forward Force Headquarters – Forward FHQ) to further consolidate its preparedness to participate in peace keeping missions. The facility includes a self-sustaining headquarters with accommodation and ablutions for seventy (70) personnel. The Forward FHQ has been designed and manufactured to fit comfortably on an area no larger than 60m x 80m on any terrain. It comprises the Administration Control Office; the Planning Office to accommodate desks for 24 personnel; a Joint Operating Command Centre (JOCC), which will be the central point for all the communications; a Briefing Room that has the capacity for up to 60 personnel at a time; and a small office for the Command Group, which will control all communications for the lead-forces.

The Kit was co-sponsored by the Danish and UK governments and supplied by the AFEX Company.

EASF is a regional intergovernmental organisation with a mandate to enhance peace and security in the Eastern Africa region. It is established under the umbrella of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). The EASF is one of the five regional Standby Forces of the African Standby Force (ASF) consisting of multidimensional components namely, Military, Police and Civilian. It draws its membership from ten Member States from the Eastern Africa Region namely, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.